>> oh, kim. tough life. tough life for kim. well, that's what's making news in america this morning. >> stay with us for "good morning america." thanks for watching, everybody. and have a wonderful weekend. it's hard to believe it happened again. what students plan to do tonight at virginia tech after thursday's shooting. and the woman accused in the robbery and murder of a hopkins researcher, steven pit karen, what could lenten her sentence. new developments on a high school teacher accused of sexually abusing students. full details straight ahead. it is friday, december the 9th, good morning, maryland. let's get right into weather

right now with justin burk for the very latest on what we can expect for this friday and into the weekend. justin. we got ourselves a little bit of chill out there. yesterday we woke up snow free, but we weren't expecting any on the roads. we have a mostly sunny sky during the day. can you see that? i wanted to point out that near full moon. the moon is actually full tonight, there's an eclipse tomorrow morning and unfortunately we will not get to see it because the moon will have set at that point in time. bel aire starting at 29, back towards ellicott city. fredrick checking in at 25 degrees. with virtually clear skies, oh, by the way, lake effect snow machine in with a little disturbance pushing through. modern to heavy snow in some of these places. we could get high clouds into the afternoon. we're basically looking at temperatures working their way into the mid-40s by lunchtime after a chilly side. 42 our guaranteed high. here's deangelo with a first look at traffic. reporter: good morning, justin. good morning, everyone.

on your friday morning commute, fortunately no weather-related incidents to report this morning, so you should have an easy drive for the most part. we are checking an incident involving some fire activity in elk ridge on route 1 boulevard at troy hill drive. in the meantime, let's check your drive down through the capitol beltway area. past maryland 108, looking pretty good there. also a look at the baltimore beltway this friday morning, 695 at baltimore national pike, west side traffic on the beltway moving smoothly for you this morning. charlie, good morning. continuing coverage this morning into the shooting at virginia tech. details continue developing overnight. a police officer was shot and killed on a blacksburg campus, that's about an hour southwest of roanoke. we're learning this morning about the shooter and what steubilities plan to do today. abc 2 news linda is standing by with this developing story in our studio. linda. reporter: tonight students will gather on campus for a candlelight vigil. also police are now confirming the gunman who killed the campus police officer thursday likely killed himself. police are still try to go

uncover a motive and find out whether the gunman specifically targeted the officer. he's been identified as 39-year- old derek krauss, an army veteran and married father of five. he joined the campus police force shortly after the 2007 massacre when a virginia fek student killed 32 students and faculty. it was just after noon on thursday when krauss pulled in a campus parking lot. police say that's when a gunman who was not the driver pulled over in the traffic stop, walked over into the parking lot and ambushed the officer. >> he opened his car door, and when they opened it, he just fell out towards the ground. his face was covered in blood. reporter: minutes after the shooting police flooded the campus and sent out four alerts. the alert ended when the gunman was found dead in a nearby parking lot. final exams set for today have been postponed. linda stole, ab 2 news. on another campus, the wife of former penn state coach jerry sandusky is now defending her husband, saying the

accusers are making the stories up. dottie sandusky made a statement thursday. it's the first time we've heard from her since her husband's first arrest last month. lawyers for one of the alleged victims believes we're about to hear more and that's going to be coming up next week. >> i believe that at the preliminary hearing we will likely hear more information, specifically from victim number four as to mrs. sandusky and what information mrs. sandusky may have known about the actions of her husband, including sexual assault. >> an accuser has said that he yelled ford help when he was being abused in the sandusky's basement, knowing his wife was upstairs. jerry sandusky is out right now on bail and has been ordered to wear an electronic monitoring device and stay away from his accusers as well as their families. new out today, la bellea merrick who pled guilty to charges in connection with a stabbing death of a hopkins researcher will be back in court. she is accused of violating her probation. she could face an additional six years for the charge.

she's likely to have to see a 30 year term. prosecutors in georgia have announced they plan to seek the death penalty for the man accused of killing a laurel law student. 27-year-old laura giddings was last seen june 25th walking to her amount. her body was found five days later in a trash can. steven mcdaniel attended law school in giddings and lived in the same building. a startling accident in baltimore county left police investigating late last evening a teenager struck and killed while crossing the street. it happened thursday evening at the corner of annapolis in lands down. police say the 16-year-old girl was crossing the street when she was hit by a toyota rav4. investigators are still trying to figure out who was at fault. no charges have been filed as of this morning. well, your -- are your kids really safe at school? that's a question many may be thinking about today after rockland county is saying one

of the english teachers was accused of sexually abusing his students. sharree joins us live in the studio with startling details and exactly how long many are saying this has been going on, sherree. reporter: well, charlie, these charges documents right here show the inappropriate relationships that police say 29-year-old robert sears had with three female students from glen burnie high school. the documents detail sexual enkoucialts at his home, his car and the high school plus hundreds of text messages. police say the first sexual incident with a student happened inside a stairwell at glen burnie high school about two years ago. the second alleged victim, police say, had sex with sears inside his english classroom last year and the alleged third sexual encounter happened this year. an investigation showed a 16- year-old girl had sex with sears at his home in glen burnie in his car and in his classroom. police say in the past two months the girl sent him 723 text messages and he sent her

683 messages. eight of the girl's messages included photo of her either in her underwear or naked. >> to be honest we are a school that is hurting right now and it breaks my heart that our students and staff have been put in a negative light because of the apparent actions of someone we've all trusted. reporter: now, jeff sears was removed from his teaching position and any contact with students when those allegations came to light. police arrested him yesterday and he's being held on numerous child sex charges and being held on $3 million bail. sheree johnson, abc 2 news. baltimore county police are taking extra steps to keep predators away from children, especially during the holiday season. they are assigning plain- clothessed officers in malls, all part of the sexual registration team. they will be trained to look for sex offenders who may be violating parole. retailers are also getting involved. some store security officers are working with police on patrol as they look out for registered swenlds as well.

it's an event we told you about a few months ago, the trip, the construction and now the unveiling, "extreme home makeover" that's going to be coming up tonight here on abc 2 and the details you need to know so you can catch this great show coming up. also, drivers beware, there's more speed cameras going up and we'll tell you where you need to be aware as you head out the door this morning. you're watching "good morning maryland" first and only at 4:30.

is that thing getting closer? look how high that thing's going. look out there, look at the debris. all right, give me the camera. no, just drive. i've got it. zoom in! zoom in! i can't believe this is happening. look at the size of that thing. it's everywhere. are you getting this? yeah, i've got it. what was that? it's the national guard. how'd they get here so fast? i don't know. pull over! pull over! do you have what it takes to head into the heart of the storm? check out nationalguard.com.

welcome back on this friday morning. after much anticipation today an eastern shore family will be featured on abc's "extreme home makeover." the johnson gosly family was sent on vacation back in october while crews built them a new home. we were there for everyday of that build, and you can catch it, see the final product right here tonight at 8:00 on abc 2. time now for a check of

that forecast and things a little more seasonal out there this morning, justin. >> that's a really good point, charlie. you can see my -- you didn't see my graphic schedule ahead of time, did you? clean sweeps across the chesapeake, but we talk about the almanac, talking about seasonal and we're supposed to be down to 37 for the low, 47 for the high. look at these splits, low record of four, the high mark in 1966. again, that mark of 30, we're at 29 right now. we're probably going to be a little bit below normal when we finally bottom out this morning, near zero wind and temperatures between 25 and 30. sun doesn't come up until 7:14. we'll make our way with increasing afternoon clouds to a warm high of 49. 4:41 on the clock. that's a lot of fours there. what do you have on the roads for us, angela? reporter: justin, on the roads this morning, got a couple of incidents working already, fire activity on washington boulevard. we did confirm seeing some slow traffic on u.s. 1 washington boulevard in the elk ridge area

between sulfur spring road making your way to 695, so be ready for possible slowdowns and a depure. south 95 an easy drive as you head towards maryland 32. more activity, of course, in your southbound lanes and our first look at i-83 this morning, the jfx at cold spring lane, northbound and southbound a very light flow of traffic. back to you, charlie. we're used to seeing those speed cameras popping up all over the area. now more eyes are going to be watching you on the baltimore beltway. the state highway administration says it will be installing cameras on the outer loop near the fredrick exit. you're in luck, there will be a three-week grace period, but after that if you're speeding, you can expect a $40 ticket to come to you in the mail. it's purple friday. you know what that means, another raifns game is upon us. who the birds are taking on this weekend and when you can catch that game. plus who missed practice this week, all of that is coming up when we return. first let's go inside. reporter: you may want to put

down your pens and stamps and pick up your tablet. i'll explain coming up. @ @

. time 4:44. five things you need to know on this friday morning. governor martiny will host a job symposium in annapolis this morning. it is a step to create jobs in maryland. that event is set to start at 9:00. next week president barack obama will travel to fort bragg where he'll speak directly to troops and their families offering his appreciation for their service and sacrifice during the iraq war. all u.s. troops are scheduled to leave iraq by the end of 2011. if you're out and about tonight in town, enjoy fire and ice night. ice sculptures will be on display and there will be street performers and free roasted chestnuts and s' mores. that event goes from 6:00 to 9:00 tonight. and sad news for the dugar family, michelle dugar who recently announced she was pregnant with that family's

20th child has had a miscarriage. they are featured on "19 kids and counting." michelle is said to be resting now at home. the raven's linebacker ray lewis is again on the questionable list for sunday's game against the indianapolis colts. he didn't practice yesterday and has already missed three games because of turf toe. ravens game time is set for 1:00 from energy bank stadium sunday. the baltimore police commissioner is speaking to congress thursday regarding an anti-gun trafficking program that critics are now saying has backfired. republican lawmakers want answers from attorney general eric holder on how the operation known as fast and furious was actually run. during the operation federal agents followed illegal gun sales but several of the guns ended up being used for crimes. hear from the commissioner later today on "good morning maryland." we'll have that for you at 5:00 and 6:00. and financial problems at the baltimore grand prix seem to be much bigger than thought, according to documents obtained by the baltimore sun, the baltimore racing group is more than $12 million in debt and

they have less than $100,000 in cash on hand. $5 million of that debt is past due, including some taxes. baltimore's mayor has threatened to terminate the five-year contract if those taxes are not paid by the end of the year. are you still working on getting those christmas cards in the mail? you we may have a solution for you today. it seems mail cards may be a thing of the past and turns out smart phones and tablets have made holiday card giving a bit easier. abc 2 news, craig has some apps that may make you think about ditching those stamps. reporter: as you said, more and more people are corresponding electronically through facebook and e-mail, so holiday cards could be a thing of the past. a new app called the wrisband for the iphone and the ipad and it has a place for christmas and hanukkah to customize. you can also use a photo and message and choose a message like e-mail, text or twitter or use u.s. mail. you're also to keep track of

friends and family with a checklist. as the post office continues to struggle financially, they still want people to send out cards the old-fashioned way. >> we have a fies holiday, remember, mail plenty of holiday cards, we could certainly use them. reporter: now, we have an easy way for you to take a look at some of these apps for the holidays. if you go to our website and click on the home page, you can see right here electronic card giving haid easier, click on that link and all you have to do is scroll down once it comes up and then it will give you a link to the red stamp app and also the sincerely ink holiday card app, so if you click on the red stamp app, you can see here, once it comes up -- once it comes up, it'll be very easy for you and you'll see how it can be used on your smart phone device, your android or ipad.

that's an easy way to use it. still lots of good news, you can use one of those apps to send a traditional card through the mail and it'll arrive in about a week and they cost anywhere from $1 to $2.99. remember the holiday season ends the time of giving to help children in need. donate a new unused toy to it's kinder time toy drive. abc 2 is a proud sponsor of the 13th annual event. you have until december 22nd to donate. drop off your toys to any wal- mart store, learning centers or fire stations in baltimore and annearundel counties. locations are listed at our website, abc2news.com. things have heated up overnight in boston where the occupy protestors were given a midnight deadline to leave the encampment. people have been arrested -- several people have been arrested at this hour. the mayor gave that order to leave the square and the city said if they had to, they would take further action. a christmas club at the university of buffalo is under

scrutany after the resignation of an openly gay board member. steven jackson was treasurer of the intervarsity christian fellowship, now he says he felt forced out because of his lifestyle. >> and they also told us that there were issues with the club constitution and that they were requiring their elected officers to sign a faith-based agreement which raised issues and discrimination issues. >> the university has asked the undergraduate student association to investigate whether that club violated university policy or anti- discrimination laws and to take corrective actions if necessary. the student association senate will decide what to do at its next meeting. that's scheduled for sunday. one man got quite a wakeup call and is now in critical condition because of it. a taxi cab crashed into the front window of a hotel room and into the bed of a new york city man who was laying in the bed when the cab hit him. the driver reportedly suffered a medical emergency while behind the wheel. he was hospitalized, but that driver has since been released. for 86 years coca-cola's secret formula has been locked

away, but not anymore. the vault holding their formula is now on display inside the world of the coca-cola museum in atlanta. the exhibit is now open and designed to allow visitors to get a close look at the legendary secret, the formula for coke is 125 years old. and the white house is still ready to deck the halls. volunteers from 36 states and d.c. have been very busy getting every detail just right. shine give and share is the holiday theme for this year at the white house. the official tour features 37 christmas trees, a gingerbread model of the white house and five representations of the first dog, bo. justin. 4:51. we'll talk about the entire nation right now, as we start off with this arctic plunge. at least they're above zero, but 16 now with the recovery in denver. 16 pierre and we've got near zero or below zero across the dakotas and the central canadaian border. so the cold air dominating. we pushed it all the way down, new orleans at 36 degrees this

morning. to give you an idea of what's been happening, just a little pinch of this arctic surge that we have here, a little disturbance sliding its way on in through the upper midwest and the great lakes. this was going to us, it's going to pass to our north, but we actually have two in the jet stream, this is the arctic surge, there's a tropical surge on down toward the south, bringing clouds into texas. it's when we merge those two that we get those monster storms. right now they are separated. they're going to get some showers out of this thing that's going to pass off the coast and we just jumped through all of our maps. we'll go to those in the next half hour. but you know what? we get some time to talk about this cold, crisp morning. some clouds and the disturbance from the great lakes, we'll make our way to 49. just a pinch above normal after starting below normal. so the average will be on target. tonight we'll settle back down to about 31. again, there'll be clouds and a disturbance to our west, another one try to go slide off the coast and looking forward to the weekend, a cold day tomorrow. you can see that in our wakeup window. i wanted to jump to the all-

important forecast here and that's the raven's kickoff. game day forecast at 1:00 with the colts coming to town, 42 degrees, mostly sunny sky, winds out of the northeast at five to 10 miles per hour and i think the colts stay winless. will that be an easy call? i think vegas is with me on that one. by the way, we'll have the extended outlook in the next half hour. it is 4:53. let's see what the call is on the roads now with angela. reporter: justin, on the roads right now as you get ready to head out for that friday morning drive, a problem on southbound 795, a tap of the brakes as you pass owens mills boulevard. the accident is on the left shoulder, but, of course, attracting some attention. now take ago look at your drive on i-95, maryland at 175, so far this morning we're moving pretty smoothly on i-95 and a look at the beltway here, 695 at liberty road, getting reports of an accident near liberty road on the inner loop, but no reported delays there as a result. remember to follow us on twitter at maryland traffic. back to you, charlie. south korea playing video games has become an area of

controversy. why the government is now being forced to implement a curfew on the playing time and what some are having to say about that. plus cup of noodles can pose a serious risk to your family. check this out along with our other top stories trending at our website, abc2news.com, always available for you and working for you 24 hours a day. you're watching "good morning maryland," we're first and only at 4:30. back in a minute.

around the world this morning, a thigh-born u.s. citizen has been sentenced/thai- born u.s. sentence has been sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison. the car salesman from colorado pleaded guilty to translating a banned biography of the thai king and then publishing it online. the kingdom has strict laws against debecaming the highly-

revered mon arc. in brussels saving the common currency, this comes as the central bank predicts zero growth for europe in the next year. the national debts of the europe members including ireland and greece have pushed the common currency to the brink se, forcing international lenders to swoop in with a bailout. the world's cyber games are on right now in south korea, but as that country hosts gamers from around the world, a dark side, the country's gaming culture is now coming to light. video game addiction has now become a major social problem, and according to a recent study, nearly 14% of 9 to 12 years old in south korea are being classified as gaming addicts. >> what we need to do is understand why the children have no choice to do what they do, understand why they get addicted to games and create a platform for everyone to talk about the problems. >> the government is now fighting back with an online gaming curfew. and as of last month, children under 16 could not play games from midnight to 6:00 a.m. but activists argue that law violating children's civil rights and many parents resent

what they regard as government intrusion into their home. in england this morning, the daily mail says this is the way the next king of england will say merry christmas this year. you are looking at the official christmas card from prince charles and his wife camilla, the dutchess of cornwall. this was taken during prince william's wedding back in april. crazy people screwing it all up. >> another shooting on the virginia tech campus. this time two dead, including one police officer, almost five years from the date of the 2007 massacre. an rockland county teacher accused of sex acts with young girls, how long -- an annearundel county teacher accused of sex acts with young girls, where this went on and how long. it is friday, december the 9th, the weekend is upon us and it's a purple friday.

the ravens in town sunday against those indianapolis colts. for a forecast for today and maybe a peek into the weekend, let's say hello again to meteorologist justin burk. >> over your shoulder some purple haze showing up from the lights downtown. hopefully we'll get that shot out fof you. morning highlights, we've got ourselves a clear sky, we've got ourselves a light wind and we've got ourselves the triple window here. one of the highlights the fact that we're basically looking at clear skies across the area. but there is a little disturbance back to our northwest, producing some snow in ohio and the great lakes. good for them, right? snow lovers, we still have to wait because that stuff is not going to reach us. we've got ourselves a clear sky. in fact, because of that disturbance, we'll bring in a slight wind shift that will allow temperatures to really cook up today, at least more so than we had yesterday. we start off at 29 in baltimore. i will show you some of your local neighborhood temperatures coming up in a few minutes because there is a little bit of a way you can live on a hill and clear skies and light winds, it's actually a little bit milder than we have in the